New-York tribune., 1887-04-24
THE TENT GOES UP.
THE, INTOLERABLE CURIOSITY OF THE
SOUTH SHORE.

SOUTH ShOhE.
STONY BEACH, May 2e.-Our tent is up. Not oniy
,n but Il has a board noor When Mrs. Yates went
across Salt Pond that day in desperate pursuit VI
,ome man who would be willing to work iof 10"
bours abe was successful far beyond anything "o n~
hoped When her dory was seen coming DAcA Ai'oi
4 long absence It contained . man, and that man
proved to be a carpenter. Ho actually brought 1e"
,,,ss with him. and could use them without co'1-
plaining Of being tired As had expected, cap
Ascl fingered near until no learned why Maria Jane
aad gone then he llmpcd away over the riose ~ .n
the Inhabitants that them women had go' n,~A - ~
work for 'cm finally, N he guessed they q go' t
now not to come down here agin withou. no in~'
Indeed we had that lesson thoroughly iearnoo'
The man worked leisurely, but 10 Maria jane ac-
rustomed 10 the movements OF her HUSBAND, -iS "Vi
,eemod to be going on with Ightningiike rapidly
To use her own words in description atter"aro' 'n"'
tent was yanked up quicker'n scat
We felt that we deserved 70 have IL reared In TINS
rav at last Mrs Yates remained with us and helped
ma unpack our scanty furniture For spectators wo
had sost prominent of all, tho masnn VINO sa'
gazing with much calmncss that he even occaSioh
Ally nodded I'm short nap. There were TWO "on,.
from the house nearest, who stood for hourS WIN
their aprons flung up In an artful manner over .ncn
heads their rough brown hands hanging before thom'
their ewes not missing single article as 1t was unteo
or unwrappod. On a line with them was Capn Asei'
who for some unaccountable reason was late IN aIrV
ng. but whose attention. after he did co'1e never
wandered for an Instant Occasionally, Hoih 'no
house ND tho slope Of the hill where the two women
lived three small children would wander down' anu
make such statements as the following:
"Mai mai The waters all billed outer the greens r
"Mal mai The gngerbread's burnt as blacks
the back !"
ma, mai I've cut my finger tryin' to skin then
perch"
aMal / say amt II time fur the chowderf
These announcements were received usually WIN
andre
Put more water In the pot 'squicks ever you
san."
"If it's burnin', shet the back damper"
"L0rl That cut amt notnin"
was rather sorry for the Children for they wanteo
to stay and see the tent furnished, and would stand
in that openly spell bound manner peculiar to chill
dren until they hustled of up to the house to remain
until they could think Of some other excuse 10 SOCK
their mothers society.
The articles we were placing in the tent were oI
the simplest description but could hardly oeiieVe
that fact when saw the intense scrutiny with which
they ali viewed
We could not have been watched more closely had
we been performing the most extraordinary tumblng
feats suppose there is almost nothing in the way
of entertainment for these women. They DO not nave
oven the mild excitement Of catching fish or Oh tendhg
lobster pots. What they know Is what their htspahds
tell them and this Of information is neither
large nor deep. This particular place we had CHOSEN
for our tent because removed fom the cluster
of little summer cottages which occupied the moro
picturesque portions of the shore But these houses
and hotels too far away for these women u
have chance to give them much close Inspection
1t was the who, in the season, walked up 10
these houses with baskets Of fish and Holsters ana
charged startling price for their "The higher
you be to where fish is caught the higher they nat
urally be- said Cap'n Asel 10 me once, when OBJ
1ected paying moro for Goldfish than would nave
to do in city market. ats plain enough why 1t
should be So" he went on in an argumentative man
ncr for you see, the higher, the better the quality
cod that a-skiting through the bnny half an
hour ago Is better than arter he's ben in icechst
/, day or two Amt that sol'
This reasoning TO which had no reply.
1t seemed an almost incredible thing to these pco
pie, particularly the women, that We being women
could really be intending to live in tent, although
1t should been plain to them that this transient
abode really going 10 be moro comfortable than
the homes where some Of them dwelt.
"It might do well nOugh for men fOlks,' saiu one
aoubtfuy, but 1t don't seem proper, somehow"
You see the idea Of propriety was before their
eyes. 81 shouldn't wonder mite If you got talked
about" said this woman. Randy Rankin
eld me yisteriy that 'twant fttin' for you two to
be here alone. N somehow 1t seemed wuss,' she
said :" for ye to hev dorg's big as that You see,
wo amt used to no such dorgs that. 1t makes the
whole place kinder different to Know that there's
such animil round. VIII he break inter folkses
houses N Jump at folks in their beds. y
1t his not his custom to do so, unless specially
ordered" said Carlos.
avail, Randy said dogs O. them color, so kinder
light m so kinder dark round tho head, of the
brcakn-in kind. She thought it needed man ter
tend to him"
We assured our companion that Randy Rankin was
entirely mistaken In her judgment of dogs OF them
color, and that her imagination probably ran away
with her" on this topic.
While We were making this explanation 1T was
discovered that kerosene cook stove was not
present among the luggage The tin oven and various
Kettles come but the part Of the stove which held
oil and produced heat was absent. This was blow
How could we aboard ourselves" without this all
important artclel And 1t would be several days
before an expressman could bo notified and deliver It,
We began to feel as Providence did not favor ouI
project Of camping out on the South Shore.
Consulting with Mrs. Yates concerning this dilemma
she advised to II We could not take our meals
until our stove came, with the Wilder Marrow, who
lived at the east end Of the mash. The Wilder
NARROW had two boarlers now, folks who came early
and stayed latc every year. The place was almos
half o mile away. at the end of the path which lee
along tho ridge, and close to salt marsh which wa
overiowed only at the highest tides OF spring ant
fall. There times when tsis marsh sent fOru
such an cdor that 1t would rouse us from sound seel
In the middle OF the night. 1t was penetrating
fetid birthstone sort OF odor that was horibl!
suggestive. This would after a rain and whcI
the wind was in particular corner of the south.
never imagined anything oould send out such stencil
and was astounded when Capn Ascl told us tina
"that smell was tho main thing which made this par
Of the shore SO healthy There want no smell like
on the whole coast,"-ths we believed twas goo
for the chst, n twas good for the stummich. Ef
hadn't or ben for that ma 'sh smell, his legd ben
good deal wuss n twas"
There in my mind often suspicion that Cap
Asei was not talking what as children, we used
call "honcst Indian" looked at him curiously
discover any sign of insinccrity but have not ye
found any such sign Hc is ignorant enough an
seif-concctod enough not 10 know any better than
talks. 1t must be his solemnity hat makes me su
pect him.
Maria Jane went with us that forenoon to wido'
NIarlows wc had risen so carly, on account OF Nj